Update: Cliff Pennington scratched; A’s odds and ends

UPDATE:Shortstop Cliff Pennington was scratched just before game time, with no announcement yet about the cause. Eric Sogard is now playing shortstop and batting ninth; just slide Pennington out of the middle of the batting order below and stick Sogard at the bottom.

UPDATE II:Pennington was held out as a precaution with left oblique tightness.

Manager Bob Melvin said that Ryan Sweeney (right quad strain) might take batting practice today and he might get a pinch-hit appearance at Seattle. I’m trying to keep an eye on the cage while typing to see if Sweeney jumps in, but not so far.

When I saw Jemile Weeks earlier this afternoon, I said, “Three in a row?” “Why not?” he said. Weeks has homered in each of the past two games after not homering in his first 90 big-league games.

Melvin doesn’t want Weeks swinging for the fences, because that’s not his game – he’s about getting on base and speed, finding gaps. He doesn’t feel as if he has much to worry about; Weeks didn’t appear to be trying to gear up to go deep or anything on either homer. He ran into some good pitches to hit out, and he’s strong enough to do so when that happens. I doubt he’ll be striking out three times a game now trying to be a power guy, but I do think he has enough power to hit eight-10 a year, and even more if he fills out a bit more. He’s never going to be as big as his brother Rickie, but Jemile Weeks is very slight and he’s likely to add some bulk as he ages.